So, You Want to Be a Manager?

Have you ever been approached by someone who is looking for a promotion into management, but isn’t ready?

What’s your typical reaction? I’m going to guess you take on a defensive posture, climb onto your soapbox and explain to your rep why that’s not an option right now. If the conversation goes at all well, you might appease that person—but for how long? It’s only a matter of time until they’re walking into your office, wanting to revisit the same conversation again.

It’s safe to say this approach isn’t effective. Take a moment to reflect on why. Did you seek to understand their point of view in order to get to a root cause of their reasoning? Did you take the time to uncover why this person wants to be a manager in the first place? And if there was a potential fit, did you map out a career path and trajectory so they could clearly see the path, skills, responsibilities, change in workflow and hours, and disposition they’d need in order to be an effective manager?

If you’re finding yourself having repetitive conversations, chances are you missed many of the above in favor of making assumptions—and that means you’re not being curious enough to ask the right questions.

Here’s a five-step process on how to facilitate this conversation to ensure people distinguish fact from fiction and know exactly what they’re signing up for:

Step 1: Engage your report in an in-depth, authentic conversation to set and re-set clear expectations, your intentions, and alignment and understanding around expectations prior to a promotion, as well as the professional development and internal organizational changes that need to happen once they receive it.

This requires discussing what a promotion entails, what results need to be achieved prior to the promotion, the skills they need to develop, the expectations of the senior position, and a realistic timeline for a promotion.

Here’s what that could sound like:

“I appreciate your interest and desire to advance in your career and making me aware of your career goals and expectations. I want to support you the best way I can. That includes making sure I’m effective at helping you advance in your career while managing your expectations around your career path and ensuring you’re clear around what the role of a manager truly entails. This way, you can assess if it is aligned with your timeline, lifestyle, passion and expectations. Are you open to discussing this?”

Step 2: This is a coaching moment! After you set the intentions of the conversation, here are some great questions you can use to facilitate the conversation based on the objectives you have shared in the enrollment statement:

• Why do you want to be a manager?
• What are the benefits of becoming a manager as opposed to staying in your current role?
• Can you share your views on the role and responsibilities of a manager?
• What would you envision wanting to do less of as a manager? Why?
• What would you envision wanting to do more of as a manager? Why?
• As a manager, what are the priorities that you would focus on most? Why?
• How many hours do you think are in a typical workday?
• Can you describe your perception of what a typical day would look like as a manager?
• What challenges do you believe you may face in a management position?
• What assumptions might you be making about a management role?
• How many hours each day do you think you would need to spend on metrics, analytics and numbers?
• How would you go about identifying, developing and refining the skills you need to be an effective manager?
• How does becoming a manager align with your personal and professional goals?
• What are the characteristics of an effective, inspirational and extraordinary leader?
• What legacy would you want to leave?
• How do you want to be perceived?
• What might you have to sacrifice personally and professionally if you become a manager?
• How do you think becoming a manager would impact your career and personal brand?
• How does becoming a manager align with your long-term career goals?
• What is your timeline and expectation around being promoted into a management role?
• How would becoming a manager impact your personal life?
• Who else would you be interacting with more frequently for internal meetings and projects?
• How would you feel about relocating to fill an open managerial position?

Step 3: Fill in the gaps and shatter the assumptions. Once you have an idea of where they are coming from and how accurate their perceptions are of what managing takes, it’s time for the reality check.

While some people may be fairly tuned into what the role would entail, others will have no clue about what it takes to be a successful manager. They envision a management role as a position of power—an opportunity to delegate the tasks they don’t want to be doing, solve all the problems of their team and make more money.

Meanwhile, some people are inspired to build, develop and lead a team, realizing that their priority is no longer themselves, but their team.

Step 4: Share or create the job description for a manager in your organization. Now, the individual can see exactly what their responsibilities would be in this role. At this point, they can identify how much of that role aligns with their vision of what it means to be a transformational, elite manager and coach.

Step 5: Map out a career trajectory. If they still want to become a manager, they must envision a realistic path and timeline regarding what they would need to achieve in their current role before getting a promotion.

Are they achieving their current business plan and objectives? Are they a good model for their team? Do they possess the skills, attitude and behavior that would make them thrive in a managerial role? Creating a plan lowers the likelihood of your direct report coming back to you each week, asking the same question: “When do you think I can get a promotion?”

The fact is, after going through this exercise, you’ll find that many of those who are pushing to become a manager will stop, because they no longer want that role. They want to stay in their current position because they now realize how good they have it.

Of course, there are others, possibly the majority, who would make great managers. Leverage this conversation to best assess the future leaders of your organization—and those that may be a better fit elsewhere.

Keith Rosen, CEO of Profit Builders and founder of Coachquest, has delivered his programs to hundreds of thousands of people in practically every industry in over 75 countries. Rosen has written several bestsellers, including “Sales Leadership,” “Own Your Day” and the globally acclaimed “Coaching Salespeople into Sales Champions,” winner of five international best book awards and the No. 1 bestselling sales management book on Amazon for eight consecutive years.